(Archived) Praxair Issues Monthly Business Trends Report

DANBURY, Conn., May 22, 2003 — Praxair, Inc. (NYSE: PX) released its Business Trends Report for the month of April 2003, which is available on its website at www.praxair.com/investors. It also announced that it is changing the format of its report to improve transparency and enhance public disclosure. For comparison purposes, it is providing the April 2003 data in both the new and the old formats. Beginning in May 2003, only the new format will be provided.

In the revised report, the company intends to provide a comparison of the current month's consolidated sales to sales in the same period of the prior fiscal year. Qualitative information will be provided for each business segment to describe significant underlying business trends such as currency, price, volume and other factors.

The company will continue to review and amend as necessary its methods and practice of providing monthly business trend information.

Praxair is the largest industrial gases company in North and South America, and one of the largest worldwide, with 2002 sales of $5.1 billion. The company produces, sells and distributes atmospheric and process gases, and high-performance surface coatings. Praxair products, services and technologies bring productivity and environmental benefits to a wide variety of industries, including aerospace, chemicals, food and beverage, electronics, energy, healthcare, manufacturing, metals and others. More information on Praxair is available on the Internet at www.praxair.com.